


The Game of Love

by WordsandChocolate



Category: Real Person Fiction
Genre: F/M, Gaming, Kissing, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-07
Updated: 2014-10-07
Packaged: 2018-02-20 05:46:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2417150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsandChocolate/pseuds/WordsandChocolate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mandi goes to a LAN and meets the last person she's expecting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Game of Love

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request fic- I was asked to write a romantic meet cute with Benedict in the context of a LAN party.

Mandi pulled her laptop out of her bag, feeling excited. Winning a holiday to London was a dream come true, and to make it perfect, her friend James had organised a LAN party at his house. She set her beloved laptop on the table, and continued helping James set up his lounge room with tables, chairs and power boards. They moved to the kitchen to organise snacks, and Mandi heard the doorbell ring. James left to go answer it, and Mandi could hear the greetings of many different masculine voices. Looks like she was the only girl, again. 

She moved to the kitchen doorway and checked out the new arrivals as they set up their computers. Most of them she recognised from James' descriptions, but there was one man with his back to her that she didn't know. He wore black jeans and a black knit cardigan, and was standing watching the others set up. One of the other guys, Mark she thought he was, going from James' emails, approached him, holding a laptop.

“Here Ben, let me set you up over here.” 

Mandi dimly noticed he was leading Ben over to the table next to hers, but most of her attention was focused on making sure she didn't squeal like a lovestruck fangirl, for as soon as he turned, she had recognised him. Mandi would recognise that profile anywhere. Benedict Cumberbatch was at her LAN party! 

She made herself take some deep breaths, while she watched Ben sit down at his computer, looking a little lost. _Okay, you've got this. Just act normal._ He was sitting next to her computer. _Oh my God. Just walk over there and keep it together._ She glanced at James, and he threw her a wink and a knowing grin. _Oh that bastard._ He knew Ben was going to be there. 

Walking slowly, trying to look nonchalant, she headed for her computer. Ben looked up as she approached, and smiled. 

“Hi! I'm Ben.” 

Mandi swallowed her automatic response of _I know,_ and said “Hi! I'm Mandi.” 

Ben looked surprised. “Oh! You're Australian?” 

“Yup. Having a holiday. This your first time at one of these?” 

Ben sighed. “Is it that obvious? Mark's been going on about this for ages, and finally convinced me to have a go. I'm not really much of a gamer. What are we going to be playing?” 

Mandi grinned, smoothing her purple dress as she sat, tucking her black converse under the chair. Now this was a subject she could talk about. 

“Well, it's a shooter theme LAN, so we're playing Call of Duty, ARMA3 and Halo.” 

She leaned over to glance at Ben's computer, and caught a hint of his scent- the clean smell of the earth after rain, with a hint of spice. It made her incapable of speech for a moment, then she recovered. 

“So, it seems like you have them all on your computer already. Mark?” 

Ben nodded. “Yes. I don't know how to play them, I'm afraid.” 

Mandi smiled up at him.

“I can help you with that! Consider me your gaming guru for the night.” 

Ben smiled back, the tip of his nose crinkling in an adorable way.

“Thank you! So what do I do first?” 

Mandi looked around the room, saw that the guys had finished setting up.

“What's up first guys?” 

ARMA3 was the general consensus, and Mandi signed on with her usual screen name. Ben leaned over to look at her screen this time, and she could feel his auburn curls brushing against her cheek. 

“Vyxyn?” His tone was amused. 

“Hey, you don't want to cross her” she defended. “She has a reputation.” 

Ben chuckled, breath hot against her ear. He leant back in his chair and angled his screen towards her. 

“I'd better be on your team, then.” 

Mandi walked him through the sign up, helping him choose his name (Pagan), and she signed them both on as snipers. Their map loaded up, and Mandi got Ben to follow her up to the top of a building. 

“Ok, so our mission is to back up our front line soldiers while they clear the town of insurgents” she explained, keeping her sights trained on the town square. 

Ben tried to follow suit, but had trouble adjusting his sights. 

“You need to be gentler with the mouse” Mandi instructed. “You're over correcting.” 

“Argh I can't get it” Ben said, frustrated. 

“Here” she moved her hand over Ben's on the mouse, trying to keep her voice casual. “Like this.” 

“Ah. Thanks.” 

Quickly she moved her hand back before it got sweaty, and concentrated on her game. She spotted four insurgents, and picked them off one by one. Ben tried for one, and missed, then died from a head shot. 

“Shit.” 

Mandi chuckled. “You'll get better with practice.” 

Suddenly she was shot through the head by an enemy sniper.  

“Fuck!” 

A couple of the other guys laughed.

“Hey, you got us first!” 

“Fuck you!” Mandi said cheerfully. 

Ben looked a little panicked.

“What do I do now!” 

“Relax, we'll respawn in a minute. We should change our position, now they know where we are.” 

The pair found a new vantage point, and proceeded to pick off a bunch of insurgents that had their team pinned down in a tight corner. 

Ben started to relax and enjoy himself. He had been feeling quite worried about this upcoming party, thinking he would be the only beginner among the veteran players. He was, but he didn't feel like anyone looked down on him for it. Playing was actually starting to get fun. He put most of this down to his new friend, Mandi. Ben snuck a glance at her. Mandi's face was flushed with excitement, long dark hair flowing over her shoulders, swishing a little with her movements as she shot down some soldiers. 

He wouldn't have enjoyed this night half as much if it wasn't for Mandi, Ben admitted to himself. Her enthusiasm for gaming was contagious. She clearly loved to play, and Ben wanted to share in that with her. _And while I'm being honest, I need to admit that I like her. A lot._ Slowly, Ben angled his chair closer to Mandi's, close enough that his knee kept brushing against hers. _No time like the present to make an impression._  

Mandi thought that this LAN had been the best ever. She was smashing the other boys. And she was gaming with Benedict! Whose leg kept brushing hers, sending flocks of butterflies down into the pit of her stomach at every touch. As the night continued, they switched to Halo, and then Call of Duty. Mandi and Ben settled into an easy rhythm, laughing and joking with each other as they perfected their sniping duo. Mandi was sad when the time read 3am, and everyone started packing up their computers. She took her time packing her laptop away in her carry bag, sneaking glances at Ben, who was looking rather tired. 

“So, do you have stuff on tomorrow? I mean, today?” 

Ben smiled, rubbing his eyes.

“Thankfully no. Did you drive here?” 

Mandi nodded. “Yeah, I'm parked a little way up the street.” 

Ben ran his fingers through his curls nervously.

“Um, could I walk you to your car?” 

Mandi almost dropped her bag.

“Yeah sure!” 

Ben grinned, went ahead and opened the front door for her. They walked together along the footpath, in the dark of the early morning. Ben insisted on carrying her bag. 

“I had a great time tonight” Ben said, smiling at Mandi. “Sniping with you was fun.” 

Mandi smiled back. “Me too! You did really well for your first time. Do you think you'll do it again?” 

“I don't know, will you be there?” Ben said mischievously. 

Mandi laughed. “Well I'll be around for a few more weeks.” 

“Pass me your phone?” Ben asked. 

Mandi did, and Ben punched in his number, then put hers in his phone. 

“There. I'll give you a call and we can go out sometime?” 

Mandi took her phone back, hand shaking a little. What had just happened? Ben was interested in spending time with her? 

“Um, sure!” Mandi slowed down. “So, this is my car.” 

She leant back against it, facing Ben, who placed her bag down carefully. He looked nervous. _He_ was nervous? Her flock of butterflies had progressed to a full-on colony. She smiled at him. Ben grinned back, his nose doing that cute little crinkle again. He ruffled his curls, stepped in close to Mandi and took her face in his hands, pressing his lips to hers gently. 

Oh! _Oh_. Well that was nice. Mandi tangled her hands in his auburn curls and leaned into his body, deepening the kiss. Ben's breath hitched, and he ran his hands over her hair, stroking her long tresses. Mandi gave his curls a gentle tug and Ben whimpered, running his tongue across her lower lip. She responded, stroking his tongue with hers, sucking and nibbling his perfect, cupid's bow lips. 

Ben pressed her hard against the side of the car with his body, kissing her with abandon. He stroked down her back with long clever fingers, brushing across her ass and coming to rest on her hips. Both of them were panting, their breath intermingling, their tongues exploring each other's mouths. Suddenly Ben pulled back a bit resting his forehead against hers. 

“Fuck. Um, I need to stop or I'll, well I'm going a bit fast, sorry. I would really love to see you again.” 

Mandi let out a shaky laugh, her voice husky. 

“I second your wow. And there's nothing to be sorry about. That was, um, fantastic. Fucking fantastic is what I mean to say.” 

Ben grinned in relief, and pressed his body against hers in a long hug. He leaned close and purred in her ear in his deep baritone, “I can't wait to see you again.”  


End file.
